Boss Applauds Woman for Taking a Mental Health Day

The concept of the mental health day gets a bad reputation, as if it's just an excuse to play hooky. But our mental health deserves just as much attention as our physical health, and sometimes, taking care of it means removing the stressors work can add. The way web developer Madalyn Parker's boss responded to her own mental health days reminds us that taking one doesn't make us bad employees.

"I'm taking today and tomorrow to focus on my mental health," she wrote in an email to her team. "Hopefully I'll be back next week refreshed and back to 100 percent."

What's even more refreshing than her honesty is the response from her boss, Olark CEO Ben Congleton. "I just wanted to personally thank you for sending emails like this," he wrote. "Every time you do, I use it as a reminder of the importance of using sick days for mental health—I can't believe this is not standard practice at all organizations. You are an example to us all, and help cut through the stigma so we can all bring our whole selves to work."

Madalyn shared a screenshot of the exchange on Twitter, where it's gotten over 40,000 likes.

After his email went viral, Congleton wrote a Medium post explaining why he hopes for a time when people dealing with mental health issues don't feel the need to tell their bosses they're "not feeling well."

"I cannot believe that it is still controversial to speak about mental health in the workplace when one in six Americans are medicated for mental health," he wrote. "We are in a knowledge economy. Our jobs require us to execute at peak mental performance. When an athlete is injured, they sit on the bench and recover. Let’s get rid of the idea that somehow the brain is different."

If you get paid sick time, you have the legal right to use it for mental health purposes. And whether or not your boss is as understanding as Congleton, taking care of your mind will be better for your work in the long run.